Jean Christopher Pechin

DAR Ancestor A087409 Successful shipping merchant, engaged in the coasting trade between Philadelphia and Southern ports and West Indies in partnership with Jacob Bright (Brecht)... It was while on a visit to this brother Jacob, in 1765, that Christina (or Christiana), his sister, whose home was at Heidelberg (near Reading?), Lancaster County, PA, met and married Jean Christopher Pechin.

• "made small fortune - loaned part to Continental Congress in war with England The loan was made in Continental dollars that became nearly worthless and nearly ruined Pechin.
• vestryman of St. Paul's Episcopal Church

A.G.Green, "Historical Sketch of the Bright Family", (Reading: Times Book Print, 1900) FHL # 1024704 item 10.

NOTES: Judge Green writes: "...Christopher Pechin, who had recently emigrated from France ... made his home in Philadelphia. He had for some time been a partner of Jacob Bright in the shipping business, trading with the Southern ports and the West Indies. Miss Brecht is described as a lovely girl, not five feet tall, of simple manners, pleasing address, fresh complexion and quite attrractive. At all events Mr. Pechin fell in love with her, and after a short courtship they were married. She appears to have lived happily with her husband in a spacious mansion on Front Street, until his death in 1779, at the age of 42 years. ... Mr. Pechin was an invalid for some years before his death, but took an active and patriotic interest in the war with Great Britain, and is said to have equipped at his own expense the company which his brother-in-law Jacob Bright had raised in the fall of 1776. During the occupation of Philadelphia by General Howe after the battle of Brandywine in 1777, they were forced to give up their residence, which was used to quarter British troops while they held the city. After the retreat of the British army through Jersey in June, 1778, they found their house greatly abused by the reckless conduct of the soldiery."

(another) Pechin home was on Elfreth's Alley in Philadelphia.
He lived at 129 Elfreth Alley but also owned 109 and 111.
{~• this was perhaps his home before marriage}
~• he also owned contiguous property that had it entry on Front St

http://pabook2.libraries.psu.edu/palitmap/Elfreth.html {fast-forward to the 20th century} Rob Kettell, 68, who (now) lives in House 129, said what he likes most about the Alley is the strong connection to the past and a sense of community. Kettell said he and his wife, Sue, have been living in the Alley since 1975 when he decided to go to a graduate program at the University of Pennsylvania. “We moved from California. We had no idea it is a historic building or street, or anything—it just met our immediate needs.” After settling down, Kettell said he started to love the street. “It is a fairly convenient location and we have great neighbors,” Kettell said. “We extended our lease, and ended up buying the house from the owner in 1987.”

http://www.livingplaces.com/PA/Philadelphia_County/Philadelphia_Cit... "Apparently the first dwelling built on the north side of the alley, erected between 1713 and 1727, occupied the sites of the lots now numbered 129 and 131. The present dwellings on the site, No. 129 and 131, presumably were built between 1796 and 1798. At the opposite end of the alley on the same side, the two houses numbered 109 and 111 appear to have been put up by John Pechin , a carpenter, possibly about 1811."

After her husbands' deaths, Betsy Ross is said to have lived on Elfreth's Alley also...